RECOMMENDED READING
High Andes. BY ROLF MARGENAU
READ Fiction AN EXCERPT | Frogworks Publishing | July 2014
By noon, they reached the first mountain lake on the way to the highest pass. Santiago and the porters had set up a dining area next to the cooking fire—a tarpaulin stretched across a pebble beach surrounded by the canvas stools. “No samweeches today,” said Santiago, as he added a final ingredient to the iron stew pot over the fire and stirred it with a wooden spoon. Stew of the fishes today, he added proudly. They found plastic bowls and let Santiago fill them with a creamy stew full of translucent pink and ivory chunks of unknown flesh. Flatbread appeared, along with the noon ration of tea. After five hours on the trail, Santiago’s lunch was nectar and ambrosia. As Wylie and Larry returned to refill their bowls, Larry asked the cook what was in the stew. He listed basic ingredients, and added, “Mostly she is caracol and feesh.” Wylie misunderstood. 82
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“Charcoal?” “No. Caracol are snails,” said Pedro. “They come in all sizes in these alpine lakes and, as you know, are very tasty.” Wylie, who had avoided snails on his many visits to Paris, was surprised. Damn, he thought, they are tasty. Lunch concluded. Mercy walked to a cascading stream of icy water that poured into the lake to refill her canteen. As she bent to collect the water, Pedro pulled back her arm. “Sorry, but we never drink water from streams here—no matter how pure it looks. Santiago and his crew always boil water for ten minutes before letting us use it. The problem is giardia.” “I read about that,” she said. “But at this altitude it shouldn’t be problem, should it?” “So long as an animal can put its waste into the water anywhere upstream, it is a problem. If those tiny parasites infect your
intestines, you can get very sick. Let me tell you, I know. I did very stupid things when I was younger.” Mercy decided not to demand details. She recalled her own intestinal discomfort when they arrived in Huaraz. “Thank you, Pedro. You are taking very good care of us.” Pedro blushed. Wylie and Larry decided to take a few minutes to cool their feet before proceeding to their evening’s campsite. They found a rock jutting out into the lake from